The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for providing a user visiting an unfamiliar area with information of the area.
By using a vehicle navigation apparatus, a mobile information terminal with a global positioning system (GPS), and the like, it is possible to obtain information regarding facilities and sightseeing spots in a destination. However, there is a case that a user carrying such an apparatus strolls a firstly visited area for a trip or the like, where there are facilities and sightseeing spots in which the user would be interested, but the user cannot promptly obtain information of those places, and eventually misses to visit them.
Conventionally, among technologies for providing a traveling user with suitable information, one technology has been proposed to divide a map into rectangular areas, and change a detail degree of the information to be provided, depending on how many times the user has visited each rectangular area (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-83531 publication for an invention entitled “Information Providing Apparatus”, for example). The conventional information providing apparatus can provide the user visiting an unfamiliar area with more detailed information than information regarding a user's familiar area.
Furthermore, a service model has been proposed that a server receives area information from local people, and provide a traveler with information which is received from an local person whose profile is similar to the traveler's profile (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-56024 publication for an invention entitled “Travel Destination Information Providing method”, for example). This conventional method can provide the user with information received from local people whose profiles are similar to a user's profile, thereby providing the user with high-quality information as compared to information for business which is received from shops.
However, the above conventional information providing apparatus provides the information depending on only how many times the user has visited or passed through the area, so that the information is not adequately reflected with user's purposes or behavior patterns, which causes a problem that the information includes unnecessary information for the user or does not include necessary information.
Furthermore, the above conventional travel destination information providing method does not reflect characteristics in which the local people and the traveler have different interests, which causes a problem that the information is not always useful for the traveler. The reason is, for example, that the local people do not use accommodation facilities nor buy souvenirs, so that the local people are not always able to provide information that is useful for the traveler.